2841: Cheeses made with enzymes taken from animals that are not
slaughtered Islamically

Is the cheese halaal if it is made from enzymes
taken from haraam meat (not slaughtered according to shariah) as the enzymes still live
beyond the animal's life time i.e the enzyme does not die when the animal is killed.

Published Date: 1998-09-29

Praise be to Allaah.

Before answering this question, it is important to know what
rennet is.

Al-Fayroozabaadi said in al-Qaamoos al-Muheet (p. 313), under the definition of na fa ha:
al-infahah and al-minfahah and al-binfahah all refer to something yellow that is extracted
from the stomachs of suckling goat kids.

Infahah (rennet) was also defined in al-Mawsoo'ah al-Fiqhiyyah as follows: "It is a
yellowish-white substance ([in a skin vessel] - this phrase appears not to fit here) that
is extracted from the stomachs of suckling kids or lambs. When a little of this substance
is added to milk, it curdles and becomes cheese. In some Arabic-speaking regions, people
call this rennet mujabbinah (cheese-maker), and the stomach (from which the rennet is
taken) is called kursh if the animal grazes on grass.

The Islamic ruling concerning rennet is that if it is taken from an animal that has been
slaughtered according to sharee'ah, then it is pure (taahir) and can be eaten. This is
according to the Hanafis, Maalikis, Shaafa'is and Hanbalis.

As regards eating rennet taken from an animal that dies naturally, or that was not
slaughtered in accordance with sharee'ah, according to the apparent meaning of the
opinions reported from the majority of scholars among the Maalikis, Shaafa'is and Hanbalis
have said, it is impure (naajis) and should not be eaten. They base this ruling on the
aayah (interpretation of the meaning): "Forbidden to you for food) are: al-maytatah
(dead animals - cattle-beast not slaughtered) " [al-Maa;idah 5:3] - the rennet
becomes impure by virtue of the animal's death, and it is not possible to remove that
impurity from it. [next phrase is unclear]

Imaam al-Nawawi said in al-Majmoo' (9/68): "The ummah is agreed that it is
permissible to eat cheese so long as it is not mixed with anything impure, such as adding
rennet from a source that is not halaal because it was not slaughtered according to
sharee'ah. This ijmaa' (scholarly consensus) is the evidence for its permissibility."

The second view, which is that of Abu Haneefah and is one of two opinions narrated from
Imaam Ahmad, is that rennet from dead animals or animals that were not slaughtered
according to sharee'ah is still taahir (pure). This is the opinion which Shaykh al-Islam
Ibn Taymiyyah thought most correct in al-Fataawaa (21/102), where he said: "It is
more likely that their (the Zoroastrians') cheese is halaal, and that the rennet and milk
of dead animals is taahir (pure)." Elsewhere in al-Fataawaa (35/154) he said:
"With regard to the cheese made with their (some of the kaafir Baatini groups')
rennet, there are two well-known scholarly opinions, as is the case with the rennet from
animals slaughtered by the Zoroastrians and Christians, and rennet from dead animals, of
whom it is said that they do not slaughter their animals properly. The schools of Abu
Haneefah and Ahmad, according to the other of his two opinions, say that this cheese is
halaal, because the rennet taken from dead animals is taahir (pure), according to this
view, and because the (enzymes in) rennet do not die when the animal dies (so, the concept
"impure containers don't cause the contents of the container to become impure by
contact" ) applies. The schools of Maalik, al-Shaafa'i and Ahmad, according to the
other of his two opinions, state that this cheese is naajis (impure), because the rennet
is impure according to this view, as they see the milk and rennet of dead animals as
impure. In cases where meat is classified as impure because it is not slaughtered
properly, the meat is regarded as being the same as dead meat. Both opinions are based on
reports narrated from the Sahaabah. The first group states that the Sahaabah used to eat
the cheese of the Zoroastrians, while the second group state that the Sahaabah used to eat
what they thought was the cheese of the Christians. With regard to this issue, the
follower (ordinary Muslim) must follow an 'aalim who advises him to follow either of these
two opinions.